Sweepers



R. F. GARMS Nov. 6, 1962 SWEEPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 8, 1960 INVENTOR. RALPH E6 ARMS wmw ATTORNc-LY R. F GARMS Nov. 6, 1962 SWEEPERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 8, 1960 zzvmvron RALPH F16 ARMS ATTORNEY 3,061,857 SWEEPERS Ralph F. Garms, Brookfield, Wis., assignor to R. Wagner Manufacturing Company, Milwaukee, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Feb. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 7,335 9 Claims. (Cl. 15-44) This invention relates to a sweeper, and more particularly to a sweeper adapted to clean either carpets or bare floors equally well.

The object of this invention is to incorporate improved pickup action in a sweeper in as compact and inexpensive a way as possible.

This object is accomplished by mounting pickup rollers in advance of the brush which will ride over those loose objects which are pushed ahead of the brush by the usual sweeper. After the rollers ride over such objects they will be retained between the roller and the brush until the brush picks them up and projects them into the dust pan. Since the sweeper is more eflicient than ordinary sweepers it can be made more compact and smaller, e.g., low height and narrow width. This results in greater maneuverability and overall efficiency.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims as will obvious modifications of the single embodiment shown in the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a sweeper embodying the invention, such section being taken on the line 1--1 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of a dust pan and roller assembly; and

FIG. 5 is a top view of such assembly.

The sweeper as shown in the drawings has omitted therefrom some of the standard operating elements that are well known and are not necessary for an understanding of this invention. For instance, an operating handle and a bail by which it is attached to the sweeper casing are not shown. Those skilled in this art will readily understand that as the sweeper is propelled back and forth the driving wheels will cause the brush to rotate so that the floor contacting bristles are moved in the same direction as the sweeper. The sweeper consists of a casing in which a brush 12 is rotatably carried. This brush is driven in the customary manner by driving wheels 14 freely rotatably mounted on axles formed by the shaft of combs 16. Flanking the brush 12 are a pair of dust pans 18 into which will fall dust and debris-like objects picked up by the brush. These dust pans are pivoted at 20 so that they may be swung down in the well known manner for emptying. They are normally held closed as shown by springs 22 positioned as shown.

In the conventional sweeper so far described there are incorporated pick up rollers 24 which are the essence of this invention. These rollers are floatably mounted in the dust pans so that they roll freely on the surface being cleaned and are free to move up and down with respect to the sweeper casing as such rollers and sweeper pass over debris-like objects such as cigaret stubs, lumps of dried mud, crushed paper wads and the like. Such rollers have a resilient surface with a high coeflicient of friction so that they will readily ride up and roll over such objects to place such objects between the roller and the brush and prevent them from being pushed forward by the sweeper or the brush. As the sweeper is propelled back and forth the case 10 rocks slightly about the axis of the brush 12. Consequently the aforementioned float- States Patent ing mounting accommodates the necessary relative movement between roller and dust pan to keep the rollers always in rolling contact with the surface being cleaned.

In the preferred design the rollers 24 are carried by the dust pans 18 and to readily do this the bottoms of the pans are provided with upwardly formed wells 26 in which the rollers are mounted. As is clearly shown in FIG. 3 a portion of the dust pan is positioned in the space between the brush and roller and the sides 27 of the dust pans at the ends of such wells are provided with vertically extending elongated slots 28 in which synthetic bushings 39 are slidably mounted. These bushings have bodies which rest against the inside of the sides 27 and from which project oblong portions which extend through the slots as shown to provide the necessary free sliding motion while preventing rotation. The bushings have bearing openings in which the axles of the rollers rotate. This arrangement permits the rollers 24 to be mounted within the confines of the sweeper case close enough to the brush to cooperate effectively with it and still not cut down the area of the dust pan.

In order to provide the rollers 24 with a resilient surface with a high coefiicient of friction they are preferably made of sponge rubber on which a steel .aXle 32 is frictionally secured. For best results a closed cell type of sponge rubber with relatively smooth outer skin should be used. The smooth skin prevents the roller from picking up the objects over which it rolls. The ends of the steel axle 32 project beyond the rubber and rotate in the bearings in bushings 30. The rollers may be removed for replacement by springing the sides 27 beyond the ends of the bushings 30.

As previously pointed out the wheels 14 support the sweeper so that both the brush 12 and the rollers 24 contact the surface to be cleaned. As the sweeper is moved over the surface to be cleaned the freely rotatable rollers ride over debris-like objects that would be pushed ahead of an ordinary sweeper or flicked out by its brush. Thus the roller traps such objects as well as dust stirred up by the brush under the sweeper between the roller and the brush so that the brush carries such material into the case as closed by the dust pans.

I claim:

1. A sweeper comprising, a casing, a rotary brush mounted in said casing, means supporting said casing for movement over a surface to be cleaned, said means having a driving connection with said brush, a dust pan carried by said casing and movable to permit access to said casing to remove material discharged into said casing by said brush and a resilient roller freely rotatably carried by and movable vertically with respect to said dust pan and adapted to freely roll on the surface to be cleaned during sweeper operation, said roller being spaced from said brush with a portion of said dust pan located in the space between the roller and brush.

2. The sweeper according to claim 1 in which the roller is made of rubber.

3. The sweeper according to claim 1 in which the roller is made of closed cell sponge rubber with an outer skin.

4. A sweeper according to claim 1 in which said roller extends slightly below said dust pan.

5. A sweeper according to claim 4 in which said dust pan has an upwardly recessed well in which said roller is mounted.

6. The sweeper according to claim 5 in which said roller is supported in said well by bearing means providing limited movement of said roller up and down with respect to said sweeper.

7. The sweeper according to claim 6 in which said bearing means comprises a bushing rotatably mounted on said roller .and slidably engaged with a slot in the end wall of said dust pan.

3 v i 4 8. In a sweeper, a casing having a discharge opening, References Cited in the file of this patent a brush rotatably mounted on said casing for carrying ma- UNITED STATES PATENTS terial into said caslng, a member on each side of said brush for closing said discharge opening, a downwardly 24,103 Davis May 241 1859 opening well in each of said members, end walls on said 5 4881562 Holden. 1892 wells, a roller in each of said wells between said end Walls 9841336 Woodbury 1911 and mounting means operable between said rollers and 1,081,375 Evert 1366- 16, 1913 said end Walls to mount said rollers for free rotation and 2,158,086 Roberts et May 1939 vertical movement in said Wells, said rollers being spaced 2,296,305 Roberts P 122, 1942 from said brush by a portion of each of said members. 10 2,689,367 Parker Sept 1 1954 2,841,807 Pullen July 8, 1958 9. The receptacle according to claim 8 in which said roller is made of sponge rubber with an outer skin. 

